Collapsible tube



Oct. 30, 1945. B, BOGOSLOWSKY COLLAPSIBLE TUBE Filed July 24, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet l a; INVENTOR Oct. 30, 1945. B. BOGOSLOWSKY 2,387,738

COLLAPSIBLE TUBE Filed July 24, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 iiiMNiiilll INVENTOR film; (3 0% zifimray I %\-i7 W ATTORNEYS Patented Oct. 30, 1945 UNITED STATES mar OFFICE COLLAPSIBLE TUBE Boris Bogoslowsky, Jackson Heights, N. Y. Application July 24, 1942, Serial No. 452,158

7 Claims.

This invention relates to collapsible tubes and to methods for the manufacture thereof.

Collapsible tubes are used for packaging and dispensing many articles of commerce which are in plastic, semi-plastic or liquid form, as for example, tooth paste, shaving cream, cosmetic preparations, food, glue and cement, paint, polislies and the like. In the past such tubes have been generally made of metals such as tin, aluminum and lead, and have been shaped from blanks by extrusion processes. It is an object of the present invention to provide a collapsible tube made of materials in sheet or film form as herelnafter described, and to provide suitable methods and apparatus for forming such materials into collapsible tubes.

Other objects and advantages of'the invention will appear hereinafter.

A preferred embodiment of the invention selected for purposes of illustration is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the finished tube.

Figure 2 is a longitudinal section through a tubular blank.

Figure 3 is a side view of the forming mandrel, the tubular blank being shown in cross-section.

Figure 4 is a top plan view of the same.

Figures 5, 6 and 7 are perspective views showing successive stages of the folding and forming operation.

Figure 8 is a top plan view of the formed tube in the stage shown in Figure 7.

Figure 9 is a side elevation of a sealing apparatus.

Figure 10 is an exploded perspective view showing the neck of the tube and a closure therefor.

Figure 11 is a longitudinal section through the upper end of ailnished tube with the closure in place.

Figure 12 is a cross-section on the line l2-l2 of Figure 11.

Figure 13 is a perspective view of the upper end of the tube showing clamping members for holding the neck.

As materials for use in the manufacture of collapsible tubes according to my invention, I may use many of the plastic films or sheets now available in the commercial market, as for example the various cellulose base films such as the commercial product "Cellophane," or resin base films such as the commercial product Vinylite," or rubber base films such as the commercial product "Pliofllm."

sheet materials for some purposes. The selection of a suitable material will depend on the nature of the contents to be packaged in the tube formed therefrom, but I prefer to use a thermo plastic or heat sealing material, or in the case of paper, I prefer to use a paper coated with a thermo plastic or heat sealing material, because such materials lend themselves particularly well to a simple method of manufacture as hereinafter explained.

In practicing the invention hereinafter described I prefer to st with the sheet or film material in the form of cylindrical tubular blanks cut to the desired length. It is possible to obtain some of the above-named plastic films in the form of seamless tubing, and I may employ such tubing in carrying out my invention. However, it is cheaper and for most purposes more satisfactory to form cylindrical tubular blanks from flat sheet or strip materials, either by rolling the same and sealing the formed tube along a longitudinal seam,,or by spiral winding and sealing the Or I may use paper or other overlapping spiral edges. Suitable machinery for making such tubular blanks is obtainable and the formation of such tubular blanks forms no part of the present invention.

Referring to Figures 1 and 10 of the drawings, the tube comprises a tubular body 0, shoulders 2 and a. neck 3. The upper portion of the tubular body is preferably square or rectangular in crosssection and the shoulders extend inwardly from opposite sides thereof, meeting at ajuncture point from which the neck extends vertically upward, parallel to the front and back of the tube, centrally therebetween.

The neck comprises two parallel plies t of material spaced apart by additional plies 5 of material interposed therebetween along each side portion thereof extending inwardly from the side edges, but terminating short of the central portion thereof to provide an open passageway it through said neck from the interior of said tube to the exterior. I

Preferably the said shoulders and said neck including said additional spacing plies are formed integrally with said tubular body by folding and forming the upper end of the tubular body. One method of forming such an integral tube is described hereinafter, and reference may be had to that description for further details of the con- 'struction of such tubes.

Referring to Figures 2 to 8, I place a tubular blank 01' the selected material, as shown in Figure 00. a mandrel l2 having a head is which is preferably square or rectangular in cross-section, said head having opposed parallel front and back faces 14 and opposed parallel side faces I5. The upper end of the head l3 terminates in oppositely disposed surfaces l6 which may be inclined to intersect to form an edge I! extending across the head midway between the front and back faces I4. Inserted in the head I3 and extending vertically upward from the edge I! beyond the surfaces I6 is a tongue l8, the purpose of which will be described hereinafter.

In placing the tubular blank on the mandrel, the blank, which should be of dimensions such as to fit snugly around the head I3, is caused to assume a square or rectangular shape, and the upper end of the blank is allowed to protrude beyond the surface l6 as shown in Figure 3. After the blank is so placed, the side walls of the protruding portion of the blank are folded inwardly between the front and back walls, and

at the same time the front and back walls are folded inwardly, all as shown in Figures 5, 6 and 7 showing successive stages of the folding and forming operation. The said folding and forming operation may beperformed by hand or by the use of suitable forming tools. As will be observed, referring to Figure '7, the inwardly folded side walls of the blank become the spacing plies of the. neck, and the inwardly folded front and back walls of the blank become the shoulders 2 and the spaced parallel plies 4 of the neck.

It will also be observed that the innermost folded edges I9 of the spacing plies 5 are spaced apart, the space between said folds being occupied by the tongue l8. The said tongue thus separates and spaces the parallel plies 4 of the neck at that point, preventing any adhesion there-between, so that when said tongue is withdrawn, there is an open passageway 6 from the interior of the tube to the exterior.

If the tubular blank is made of thermo-plastic or heat sealing material, or of sheet material coated with thermo-plastic or heat sealing ma- I terial, it will be obvious that if heat and pressure are applied to the neck and shoulders formed and folded as described, all of the abutting plies of material may be tightly sealed to one another. Thus the plies 4 will be sealed to the abutting faces of the folded spacing plies 5, and the abutting faces of the latter will be sealed to each other. Also the upper surfaces of the ply 20 which extends inwardly beneath the shoulders will be sealed to the under surfaces thereof.

A simple form of apparatus for accomplishing this is shown in Figure 9, comprising two pivotally mounted jaws 2| having spaced parallel surfaces 22 adapted to engage the neck of the tube and oppositely disposed inclined surfaces 23 to engage the shoulders. The jaws 2| may be heated in any suitable manner, as by electrical heating elements (not shown).

With the folded tube still retained on the mandrel, the mandrel is thrust against the heated jaws, and by applying pressure longitudinally of the mandrel, the neck and shoulders are both subjected to heat and pressure. With certain types of thermo-plastic material and with the application of suitable heat and pressure, the abutting plies of the shoulder and neck may be welded together to such extent that the appearance of plies, folds and seams may be substantially obliterated. If desired, the head 13 of the mandrel 12 may also be heated to increase the rapidity of the sealing operation.

In the event that the sheet material selected is neither thermo-plastic nor heat sealing nor coated with thermo-plastic or heat sealing material, a suitable adhesive may be applied between the abutting surfaces, the particular adhesive used being determined by the characteristics of the sheet material. Alternatively, the plies of the neck may be clamped together mechanically, as by channels 3 l' as illustrated in Figure 13. The said channels may be made of rigid material such as metal or plastic material of suitable rigidity and extend inwardly, as shown, from the side edges of the neck to a point adjacent the passageway 6. The folds of the shoulder may be left unsealed, if desired, for as long as the plies of the neck are firmly secured together, either by sealing or clamping, the tube will hold its shape.

As a closure for the collapsible tubes herein described, I provide a member 33, shown in detail in Figures 10, 11 and 12. The said member may be any desired shape, as for example a circular disk as shown, but is of a thickness slightly less than the distance between the innermost edges of the folds 5. A slot 34 is formed in said member having a width approximately equal to the wall thickness of two plies of the material of which the tube is formed. The walls of the slot adjacent the periphery of the disk may be flared outwardly as at 35 to enable the closure member to easily slide over the upper edge of the neck 3 between the folds 5, and when the closure is so applied, the plies 4 lying between the walls of the slot are forced together as shown in Figure 12. Preferably the inner end of the slot 34 tapers inwardly as shown at 36, so that when the closure is pressed down on the neck, the upper edges of the plies 4 are pinched together to prevent leakage.

It will be understood that the invention may be variously modified and embodied within the scope of the subjoined claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A collapsible tube comprising a tubular body of material having one end folded to form integral shoulders and neck, said neck comprising two parallel plies of material spaced apart by two plies of spacing material folded inwardly therebetween from the outside edges of said parallel plies, the innermost edges of said folded plies being spaced apart to provide an open passageway through said neck from the interior of said tube to the exterior, each of said parallel plies being sealed to said plies of spacing material and said plies of spacing material being sealed together to form a solid laminated portion of said neck on either side of said passageway.

2. A collapsible tube comprising a tubular body of material having one end folded to form integral shoulders and neck, said neck comprising two parallel plies of material spaced apart by two plies of material folded inwardly therebetween from the outside edges of said parallel plies, the abutting surfaces of all of said plies being adhesively secured together, the innermost edges of said folded plies being spaced apart to provide an open passageway through said neck from the interior of said tube to the exterior.

3. A collapsible tube comprising a tubular body of material having one end folded to form integral shoulders and neck, said shoulders comprising two oppositely disposed plies of material folded inwardly, from the wall of the tubular body, and said neck comprising two parallel plies of material folded upwardly from said shoulder plies, the plies forming said neck being spaced apart by two plies of spacing material folded i wardly therebetween from the outside edges of said parallel plies, the innermost edges of said folded plies being spaced apart to provide an open passageway through said neck from the interior of said tube to the exterior, each of said parallel plies being sealed to said plies of spacing material and said plies of spacing material being sealed togetherto form a solid laminated portion of said neck on either side of said passageway.

4. A collapsible tube comprising a tubular body. flat shoulder portions extending inwardly from opposite sides of said tube, and a flat neck extending upwardly from the juncture of said shoulder portions, said neck extending transversely across said tubular body and being formed of two parallel plies of material spaced apart by plies of spacing material interposed between said parallel plies at each sideportion thereof, but terminating short of the central portion thereof to provide an open passageway through said neck from the interior of said tube to the exterior, each of said parallel plies being sealed to said piles of spacing material and said plies of spacing material being sealed together to form a solid laminated portion of said neck on either side of said passageway.

5. A collapsible tube comprising a tubular body having a substantially rectangular shape,

in cross sectiomadiacent one end thereof, said rectangular shaped end being folded to form integral shoulders and neck, said neck comprising two parallel plies of material extending across said body parallel to two of said faces centrally therebetween, said plies being spaced apart by two piles of spacing material folded inwardly therebetween from the outside edges of said parallel plies, the innermost edges of said folded plies being spaced apart to provide an open passageway through said neck from the interior of said tube to the exterior, each of said parallel plies being sealed to said plies of spacing material and said plies of spacing material being sealed together to form a solid laminated portion of said neck on either side of said passageway.

6. The method of making a collapsible tube which comprises folding two oppositely disposed portions of the wall of a tubular blank inwardly to form shoulders and thence upwardly in parallel relationship to form parallel plies of a neck, folding other oppositely disposed portions of the wall of said blank inwardly between said parallel plies from the outside edges thereof to space the same from each other, but terminating said spacing folds short of the central portion of said parallel plies to provide an open passageway therebetween, spacing the walls of said passageway by inserting a tongue therebetween, and sealing said parallel plies to the abutting plies of said spacing folds while retaining said tongue in position to prevent adhesion of the walls of said passageway.

7. The method of making a collapsible tube which comprises folding oppositely disposed portions of the wall of a tubular blank inwardly over the end of a mandrel having a tongue projecting axially from said end, and sealing the inwardly folded portions of said blank in parallel relationship on either side of said tongue, said tongue serving to space oppositely disposed walls of said folded portions to prevent sealing, and thereafter withdrawing said mandrel and tongue to provide an open passageway between the oppositely disposed walls of said folded portions intermediate of the sealed portions thereof.

BORIS BOGOSLOWBKY. 

